Prior to the instant invention, many workers were operating in the universe of office furniture and they did produce cubicle structures, modular office units including pre-fabricated panels for assembly on the job; that is at the time of field installation. Prior workers used many expedients to assemble the parts of an office cubicle and office furniture and office paneling. Examples of prior work include the disclosure in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,465, of May 29, 1990, and in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,539, of Feb. 28, 1989, and the patents cited therein, including the following:
______________________________________ Richter 2,908,400 October, 1959 Vaeth 3,069,216 December, 1962 Pearce et al 4,056,897 November, 1977 Takahashi 4,153,311 May, 1979 Densen 4,463,997 August, 1984 Turner 4,560,215 December, 1985 Wright 4,582,002 April, 1986 Arens 4,493,174 January 15, 1985 Watkins 3,327,440 June 27, 1967 ______________________________________
Prior workers strove mightily to simplify construction and assembly and they utilized expedients such as slots and male members fitting in such slots, as well as conventional nuts and bolts and special hardware.
Competition among prior workers abounded because of the great need for efficiency, economy, and facility in assembly. The need for saving time and material was readily recognized, but final solutions remained unsolved. Prior constructions which were assembled quickly were not always stable. Stable Prior constructions were too costly in the fact of the competition.
Compromises in prior constructions were not entirely satisfactory. With all the effort that went into the work by those engaged in this endeavor, the solution to the problems of producing modular wall panels, modular wall structures, and modular wall systems in a manner serving the needs of the industry, taking into account economy, facility, and new technical requirements, remained for Applicant.